דברים, פרק ב׳, פסוק ט׳

The Israelites' march toward the Promised Land was not a campaign of limitless conquest. God established clear boundaries of historical justice, demonstrating that other nations also possess divinely granted rights and territories. The Israelites naturally assumed they had a legal right to conquer Moab. They believed the territory was part of the land of the Rephaim, originally promised to Abraham, which would justify dispossessing its inhabitants [רא״ש, הדר זקנים, דעת זקנים, בכור שור, חזקוני]. Moses himself made a logical deduction. He reasoned that if the Israelites were permitted to wage war against the Midianites, who merely assisted Moab, it should certainly be permissible to fight the Moabites, who were the root cause of the conflict [תורה תמימה, שפתי כהן].

To counter this personal conclusion, God addressed Moses directly. This personal directive also stemmed from the fact that Moses was destined to be buried in the land of Moab. It would be highly inappropriate for him to destroy his future resting place, much like a guest cursing the host who shelters him [שפתי כהן, חזקוני, צאינה וראינה]. Furthermore, the explicit restriction served to reassure the Israelites. It prevented them from fearing that God was unwilling to give them the land, clarifying instead that the restraint was born out of respect for their ancestors [פענח רזא].

God established two distinct boundaries regarding Moab. First, the Israelites were forbidden from laying siege to their fortified cities [מלבי״ם, ביאור שטיינזלץ, אוהב גר]. This restriction may have also been an act of mercy, ensuring no further distress was added to a nation that had just suffered the loss of territory to Sihon, king of the Amorites [שפתי כהן]. Second, they were prohibited from provoking actual warfare. The primary approach among commentators is that while outright war and conquest were strictly forbidden, the Israelites were permitted to intimidate the Moabites, display weaponry, take spoils, and even conscript them for forced labor [רש״י, העמק דבר, תורה תמימה, מלבי״ם]. This nuanced allowance contrasts sharply with the command regarding the neighboring Ammonites, where any form of provocation was entirely forbidden. This difference is rooted in a reward for modesty. The mother of the Ammonites, Lot's younger daughter, concealed the incestuous nature of her child's conception by naming him Ben-Ammi. Conversely, the mother of the Moabites, the older daughter, publicized the act by naming her son Moab, meaning "from father." Because of her lack of modesty, her descendants received less divine protection and were left vulnerable to intimidation [רש״י, שפתי חכמים, גור אריה, צאינה וראינה, ברכת אשר על התורה].

The overarching reason for sparing Moab was that God had permanently granted the land to the children of Lot. This was a reward for Lot's hospitality in hosting the angels, as well as an acknowledgment of his daughters' fundamentally good intentions to repopulate the world after the destruction of Sodom [צאינה וראינה, שפתי כהן]. Additionally, God preserved the Moabite nation because Ruth, the future matriarch of the Davidic dynasty, was destined to emerge from them [תורה תמימה, שפתי כהן]. From this historical reality, the Sages derive a principle in monetary law: a Gentile legally inherits from his father according to Torah law, just as Lot's descendants rightfully inherited his territory [תורה תמימה, צפנת פענח]. The specific territory preserved, Ar, refers not merely to a single city but to the entire nation, or at least its central metropolis for which the whole region was named [רש״י, אבן עזרא, מלבי״ם, ברכת אשר על התורה, ביאור שטיינזלץ]. Although this area may have been temporarily captured by Sihon, it was ultimately returned to Moabite control [אבן עזרא, חזקוני, ביאור יש״ר, מלבי״ם]. In the Aramaic translation of Onkelos, this central region is referred to as Lechayat [נתינה לגר, ברכת אשר על התורה].